Breaking Free: Sasaki's Story
by SwordArtSylveon
Summary: When social outcast Sasami Naoki is pulled into the world of Sword Art Online, she'll have to fight to survive, emotionally and physically. This story is rated T for violence, frequent swearing, character death, and sexual innuendos. So this is my first story on this site in years, please don't hate me too much.


Chapter One

November 6, 2022

Sasaki's POV

I sat on my bed, staring at the Nervegear in my lap. I took a deep breath. I don't know what I was worrying about, I could play for a few hours before my brother gets back. I set the Nervegear on my head and lie down.

"Link Start!" I exclaim. I see a flash of colors and after a series of logins and demonstrations to test my five senses, I lose consciousness.

When I open my eyes, I find myself in a grassy area. Woah, am I really in the game? I look ahead of me to see two guys fighting off what appeared to be a boar. Yeah, I guess I'm really here. I look at my status bar. Sasaki, Level 1, 250/250 HP, no status conditions.

"Hey! You with the long lavender colored hair!" I hear a voice call. Oh, they're talking to me. I turn around to see a girl running towards me. She had short, white hair and periwinkle blue eyes. "What's up? My name is Sky."

"I'm Sasaki, nice to meet you."

"Watch out!" We heard someone shout. I look behind me to see a boar charging at us! And before I could even say anything, Sky spoke.

"Hey Sasaki, stay behind me, okay?" She ordered before taking out her sword and charging towards the beast and slashing it with her weapon. The boar shattered and I saw Sky grin. It's just a thought, but I'm suspecting that she's a beta tester. "Cool, I got XP!"

"Are you a beta tester too?!" I see the two guys from earlier approach us. Too?

"Yeah, I'm Sky. And this is Sasami."

"Awesome! I'm Klein," He introduced himself. "And the one with the black hair is Kirito."

"Nice to meet you both," I speak. We talked and battled the nearby monsters until sunset.

"Oh man, I'm hungry! I think I'll log out for now, can't do anything productive on an empty stomach!" Klein exclaimed. We add each other as friends so we can message each other at anytime. Klein accesses his main menu and prepares to log out as the three of us turn around to head back to the Town of Beginnings after bidding him goodbye. "Huh? Where'd the logout button go?"

"It should be there."

"Nope not there."

"Really? It should be last option of the…" Sky started. Sky and I opened our menus to see that there was no logout button. "…Main menu?"

All of a sudden, I was forcibly telephoned to a small town, with a crowd of other confused players. I looked around, desperate to find Kirito, Klein, or Sky. I wasn't even friends with them for an hour and I already lost them! The sky was covered with red hexagons, each with the caption, WARNING.

"Attention players, welcome to my world…" I hear a loud voice say. I look up to see a large figure with a red cloak and their face covered. He then introduced himself as Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online, and explained that the logout button wasn't a defect, earning gasps, screams, and the other noises in between. No way, then how do we get back to the real world? And what's even worse, 213 players have already died from attempts of removing their Nervegear, and I could be next if my family tries to do the same. "…There is no longer a way to revive someone in the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted, forever. The Nervegear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

My eyes widen. I die here, I die in real life. And the only way to escape is to make it to the top floor of Aincrad and defeat the boss, but there's a major problem; there's a hundred floors, and we're on the very first. Who knows how long that will take!

"I placed a little present in your inventory. Please, have a look." I opened my inventory and take out a…mirror? My hair and eyes were the same shade of lavender. I see everyone disappear with blue shards surrounding them, myself following. The shards disappeared seconds later, relieving me of my dizzy state. I heard gasps and screams.

"Is that you Klein?!"

"Is that you Kirito?!" I hear from behind me. I sigh in relief and start moving around the crowd.

"Klein?! Excuse me," I said moving through the crowd. "Kirito?!"

"Sasaki?!" Klein exclaimed. I saw the two and ran to them. I was a panting mess when I got to them.

"Thank…goodness…I finally…found you both," I panted. They turned around and…woah. "What happened to you two?"

They look different from the last time I saw them, which was a few minutes ago. For one, either I got shorter or Klein got really tall in a short amount of time. Aside from that, Klein wasn't much different, but Kirito looked way younger, and a lot cuter!

"I should be asking you that!" Klein defends. I look in the mirror and gasp. Sandy brown hair, green eyes. Oh no! I've been converted into my real life form. No wonder everyone seemed to be taller. But how? I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the figure speak again.

"My goal has already been achieved." What goal? Why would he want to keep ten thousand people to himself? "I created Sword Art Online to create this world and meddle in it."

"Kayaba…" Kirito snarled.

"And now, all is complete. This is the end of the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. I wish you luck players." And with that, Akihiko Kayaba disappeared, along with the barrier.

It was silent. Everyone was stunned.

The silence was broken when a girl screamed. Then all hell broke loose. Players were yelling, crying, and freaking out all over. I then made eye contact with someone I thought I'd never see in a place like this; Kenta Suzuki. Why is he here?! Before I could even think about it more, my hand was grabbed and suddenly, I was getting farther and farther away from the crowd. I was pulled into an alley and faced Kirito, who dragged Klein and I here.

"Listen, I'm leaving right now to go to the next village. I want you both to come with me. There's only so much cash and points to go around," Kirito stated. "This area will be clear of it soon. If we leave now, we can get a head start. I know all the places we have to watch out for, I might have a low level, but even I can get there without much trouble."

"Hey guys!" Sky exclaimed. Klein's jaw dropped. Well, she looked much different than before. She was noticeably taller, and older, but inodded a good way. Instead of short, white hair it was black and long, and her eyes were green instead of blue. "Woah, Sasaki, I almost didn't recognize you! What are you three doing in an alley?"

"I'm planning to leave for the next safe zone before this area is full of players," Kirito answered.

"I'd come with, but my friends are back in town. I gotta find them," Sky replied.

"Mine are too," Klein added. "We waited in line together for a whole night. I can't leave them. But hey, don't worry about us. Go to the next village, we'll be fine."

"Alright," The black haired guy said. "Sasaki?"

I mean, it'd be in my best interest to go with him. He knows what he's doing, and I don't want to stick around to see who else Kenta might be with. I nod. "I'll go with you, if that's okay."

"If something happens, and you need some help, don't hesitate to message me, yeah?" Sky tells me.

"I'll be sure to do that," I reply, smiling. Sky returns the smile and heads back to the plaza along with Klein. I turn around and start following Kirito to the next safe zone.


End file.
